Aircraft typically include one or more displays in a cockpit to visually present multiple categories of flight- and/or aircraft-related data from a flight control system to a flight crew. In some cases, the flight crew may be prompted by the displays to provide additional data to the flight control system for determining a particular command. In response, the flight crew may manually input data into the system by typing the data into an input device, such as a keyboard, or by pressing a button on a pointing device that may be communicatively coupled to the system. Typically, the input devices are located adjacent to the displays such that the flight crew may need to remove his hand from a yoke to operate the input device. As the number of components in the aircraft cockpit and the density of information presented on the displays continues to increase, improved systems are desirable that reduce effort of the flight crew with interacting with the displays and the flight control system.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a simplified system for a flight crew to input data into a flight control system. In addition, it is desirable to for the system to be relatively inexpensive to implement into new and existing aircraft. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the inventive subject matter and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the inventive subject matter.